Cryptocurrencies: Changing the way money and assets are transferred

Since Bitcoin’s official release in January 2009, cryptocoins have transformed the financial industry. Many have heard about popular cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum or Bitcoin or Ripple or maybe even heard about ICOs, but few know how they work, where they come from or what is needed to get started in the crypto space. So this is your guide to understanding cryptocurrencies and how they are reinventing the financial landscape of tomorrow.

What are cryptocurrencies?

Today, everything is going digital; however, minveney and cash, for the most part, have been left behind. Even when using online transfers or credit cards, you still expect your physical money to exist somewhere — whether it is in a wallet or a bank. However, cryptocoins are changing these outdated notions of physical cash or third parties and storing the digitized format of your funds on a digital database known as a blockchain — the technology that was introduced by Bitcoin.

Put simply, a cryptocurrency lets its users transfer funds almost instantly. A digital currency does not rely on a third party, and that successfully lowers the transaction fees. However, over many years, cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, DASH, TenX, Binance, VeChain, Digibyte, Waves, Siacoin, Monacoin, MaidSafe and many more have moved well beyond the core component of being a traditional currency and have built robust platforms for allowing the users to even transfer real-life assets including real estate and cards. Every cryptocoin uses a powerful blockchain for executing these transactions and recording them.

The word “crypto” in the phrase “cryptocurrency” is used because every single transaction involving digital currencies is completely encrypted for security purposes; this process is known as cryptography. The use of cryptography, in this case, is done for following reasons:

To protect the transactions from being tampered with.

To safeguard the identities of different parties involved in a transaction.

To create fresh coins through mining.

Cryptocurrency’s history

The path to cryptocurrencies began in the 1980s. To protect the cash of gas stations and small shops, banks started developing and pushing the concept of point of sale. According to this idea, the customers were allowed to use a credit card in place of cash to buy products.

Nearly a decade later, a web-based payment system was developed and is still used today — PayPal. By using money online, the idea of moving traditional currencies between different end users gained momentum. PayPal further established the web’s credibility as a powerful medium of sending/receiving currencies. Afterwards, many similar services such as e-Gold and WebMoney were developed.

In the 2000s, right after e-Gold was shut down, cryptocurrencies began showing up in the cryptography community known as Cypherpunks. Many well-known personalities — Julian Assange who founded WikiLeaks and Jacob Appelbaum who developed Tor — were members of this community.

Unfortunately, not even a single cryptocoin from this community gathered enough momentum to push them into the world’s consciousness until 2008 — the year when Satoshi Nakamoto’s paper, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, was published.

In the following years, Bitcoin evolved as the top digital coin in different crypto exchanges. Bitcoins eventually gave way to hundreds of cryptocurrencies that were collectively known as altcoins. Some altcoins are more than simple coins and tweak the fundamental blockchain technology to reinvent website services and apps and tackle the crises of centralization.

Centralization crises

Cryptocurrencies bring the power of decentralization. However, before jumping onto the concept of decentralization, you need to understand the real problems brought by centralization. If you look closely at the digital world around you, you will notice that you are a big chunk of information – including your personal details, your likes and dislikes, your bank details, and the like.

The data set — which you represent — is usually held by large private companies, public organizations, and the national government. The same data set is held on the servers of these big companies and institutions. So the data set is stored in a central location, and the information is centralized.

For instance, your financial record that includes all the transactions you have made, your current balance, and other related details are available on your bank’s server. So what if the server gets hacked? This will compromise your financial information because everything is stored in a single location. That is where a technology based on the concepts of decentralization helps; that is where blockchains come into play.

Blockchain explained

A blockchain is a big decentralized digital ledger that records every single transaction involving a specific cryptocurrency. Because a blockchain is the underlying technology backing every cryptocurrency, it is important to understand this technology in order to understand cryptocurrencies.

A block

A block can be thought of as a page of a ledger that includes a list of transactions. Whenever two users send coins to each other, a transaction is created and the details of such a transaction are stored on a block. A block contains a specific number of transactions depending on the cryptocurrency in question. A transaction includes the addresses of the receiver’s and sender’s wallets and the amount involved in a transaction, among other things. When a transaction is added to a block, it becomes immutable — that is, it cannot be removed or edited. Once the block is filled with transactions, it will be verified by miners, and when a block is verified, it will be ready to be attached to the blockchain.

The chain

Once a block is verified or mined, it will be attached to the blockchain. The entire chain of blocks includes every transaction that has been executed in the cryptocurrency’s history. A block is given a unique identifier that also holds the previous block’s identifier.

Cyrptocurrency mining

The task of maintaining the credibility of a blockchain, verifying different transactions on a block, and adding blocks to the chain is done by miners. The miners need powerful computers that run specialized mining software to verify or process a block. These mining applications and computing technology are needed by miners to solve cryptographic puzzle that are necessary to process a block.

Altcoins: For those investors who dare to think beyond Bitcoins

The word “altcoin” is shortened from alternative cryptocurrency coin. A large share of these altcoins is a variant of Bitcoin. Altcoins are built using Bitcoin’s original, open-source protocol with certain modifications to its underlying code. With the changes done to the code, a fresh coin is conceived with a new set of features. Some examples of altcoins include Peercoin, Litecoin, Dodgecoin, Auroracoin, and Namecoin.

However, not every altcoin is a substitute or modification of Bitcoin. That means there are some altcoins that are not derived from Bitcoin’s open-source protocol; instead, they have created their own protocol and blockchains. Some examples of such altcoins comprise Ripple, NXT, Ethereum, Omnicoin, CounterParty, and Waves. Every altcoin has its own blockchain, wallets, and miners.

Why does the world need altcoins?

As an alternative to Bitcoin, every altcoin was developed to improve or replace Bitcoin’s technology in different ways. Previously, altcoins were no more than Bitcoin clones. Altcoins initially improved Bitcoin’s hashing algorithm, transaction speed, and distribution method by a narrow margin.

Bitcoins have their own set of limitations that altcoins hope to solve. Some altcoins build new, useful features that Bitcoins do not offer. For example, Darkcoin is working toward creating a platform that will make the transactions completely anonymous. Whereas, some coins such as Mastercoin and CounterParty use Bitcoin’s blockchain to fully secure their own ecosystems. Likewise, every one of the available altcoins takes its unique approach to refining the concept of digital currencies.

The first altcoin

Developed in April 2011, Namecoin was the first-ever altcoin. Apart from being a currency, Namecoin’s chief purpose was to fully decentralize the process of registering domain names. Through Namecoin’s robust ecosystem, the internet’s censorship has become difficult. Once placed among the top ten cryptocoins, Namecoin remained a successful investment option throughout its short-lived popularity.

Now, we are heading towards to a more important question: should you invest in alternative cryptocoins?

Should you invest in altcoins?

Cryptocurrencies were invented rapidly and have transformed the commercial landscape. Due to their sudden rise in popularity, altcoins may not be a risk-free investment. Bitcoin, too, suffer from price volatility. However, altcoins, by comparison, are more volatile. As their market caps are low, altcoins might be more susceptible to price manipulation.

The investments made by wealthy traders increase the price of a specific altcoin or coins. These traders, also known as “whales”, inject a massive amount of capital into any low-priced or new coin — and that is what builds the hype around that coin. Once the price of a coin rises, the whales often end up selling all their coins on exchanges and incurring a huge profit.

This trading tactic, used by whales, is often known as pump and dump and it hurts all those traders who did not do their homework and shortens an altcoin’s overall lifespan. To avoid getting hurt by a pump-and-dump tactic, you should focus on long-term investments done on a healthy altcoin.

When it comes to finding a healthy altcoin, it will be the one that has a strong community, that showcases high liquidity, and that is supported by developers improving the coin’s source code. These three factors strengthen a coin’s overall value in the competitive crypto space.

Altcoin applications

An altcoin is developed with the idea of improving the Bitcoin. A valid, valuable altcoin will often transform the existing rules of Bitcoin to create something unique and productive. For instance, Ethereum, an altcoin, has the ability to execute smart contracts — a computer program that is engineered to enforce all the terms of a pre-programmed contract automatically.

These smart contracts are used in a huge range of applications from insurance to real estate. Similarly, there are many alternative cryptocurrencies and their protocols that have been designed for enabling the users to convert or transact any type of currency — including frequent flyer miles, Bitcoin, or fiat money.

With these protocols, some altcoins eliminate or reduce the risks associated with payment processing. Some other altcoins, however, are designed to carry out specific applications such as buying products or online tipping. All in all, before buying an altcoin, you should make sure that its purpose or application is clear to you.

ICOs: Reimagining the way funds are raised

ICO stands for Initial Coin Offerings — an alternative crowdfunding conducted out of the traditional financing system. Also known as initial token offerings, ICOs have already helped a number of evolving businesses and projects based on the blockchain technology. For the start-ups involved in the crypto space, it is a way of raising capital without having to deal with all the legal paperwork needed at the time of financing a fresh concept or idea.

ICOs have become an easy, efficient way for companies or individuals to fund their projects. While at the same time, this fundraising technique has helped a lot of businesses receive sizeable investments from other companies or individuals. ICOs generally happen when a new cryptocoin needs to be launched or a new blockchain-based project needs to take off; at such times, the raised funds are necessary for technical development.

ICO sale and participation

ICOs have a lot of varieties. You may either see ICO sales with a specific time limit or pre-defined project funding goals. For example, an ICO may have tokens that are sold on a pre-defined price that will not change during the ICO sale; in such cases, the token’s total supply has to be static.

Nevertheless, you may have a very static token supply but would include a very dynamic funding goal. For example, sometimes the token distribution is set according to the received funds. So if the project receives more and more funds, the token’s price will skyrocket.

The best example of an effective ICO campaign is that of Ethereum, which had Ether as its token coins. In 2014, Ethereum’s project successfully raised USD18 million in Bitcoins; the value of Ether during the ICO was just USD0.40. The project went live in 2015; and by 2016, Ether’s value had spiked and went as high as USD 14 and 2018 traded in exhanges over 1000 dollars.

Generally, the tokens are sold against some of the most popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether.

ICO versus IPO

Even though a lot of investors tend to compare IPOs with ICOs, the truth is that they have a lot of differences. When compared with an IPO, an ICO will rarely grant its investors any ownership of the business that is trying to develop, whether it is a cryptocurrency or a crypto project.

Difference

ICO

IPO

Regulatory oversight

None

Comprehensive

Utility

Adoptions

Dividends

Duration of offering

Short

Long

Access to the offerings

Open to all

Exclusive

Enforcement

Legally binding contracts

Smart contracts

Steps in investing in an ICO sale

First, you need to transfer Bitcoin or Ether into a wallet from a crypto exchange.

Move the Ether or Bitcoin to your own wallet.

Take part in the ICO sale by transferring your cryptocoins to the token-selling company’s address.

Once you get the tokens, you need to understand how you can store them.

The road ahead for ICOs

As long as innovative blockchain-based projects are being created and as long as fundraising is required to expand them, the momentum will remain on the side of ICOs. Many projects in the crypto space certainly have an immense potential to become funded within a matter of hours, so you just need to look out for the best options.

However, before investing in an ICO, it is better to make sure you have successfully weighed the pros and cons of a project. If you plan to join an ICO sale anytime soon, you should go through the business’s white paper to analyze the risks and rewards involved in the project.

A little about Bitcoin history

It is possible that you are relatively new to the cryptocurrency world and therefore know little, or nothing, about Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the pioneer cryptocurrency launched in 2009 by a software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto.

Founder of the Bitcoin?

Although there were controversies as to the actual founder, all that is irrelevant now as the digital currency has gained acceptance across boards and in different businesses. In November 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto posted a paper to a cryptography mailing list, which he titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. In the paper, he gave details on the methods of using a peer-to-peer network in generating “a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust”.

The Bitcoin network was eventually born in January 2009, with the release of the pioneer open source Bitcoin client and then the issuance of the first Bitcoins. The first block of Bitcoin ever, referred to as ‘genesis block’ with a reward of 50 Bitcoins, was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto.

First Bitcoin transaction

The world’s first bitcoin transaction took place when Harold Thomas Finney downloaded the Bitcoin software the same day it was released, and was rewarded with 10 Bitcoins from Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi is said to have mined an estimated 1 million bitcoins in the early days before he left the stage and handed over the reins to developer Gavin Anderson, who then rose to assume the role of Bitcoin lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation. This foundation was set up in September 2012 to garner support for the development of the Bitcoin currency.

How Bitcoin has made many people rich

This post would not be worthwhile if there’s nothing to gain in Bitcoin. In case you are still in doubt as to what you could possibly gain or what’s in Bitcoin for you, you need to really pay undivided attention to what I am about to tell you now.

Can Bitcoin make you a millionaire?

Bitcoin has made many millionaires and you could be the next if you take the bull by the horns and invest in the digital coin. But don’t take my word for it; you need to do your own investigations and confirm what I am saying.

According to Forbes Magazine, Mr. Smith (not his real name) invested the sum of $3,000 on Bitcoin in October 2010, at just over $0.15 per Bitcoin and got about 20,000 coins. By 2013, the price of the commodity began to rise by 10% on a daily basis. When the price of the coin got to $350 per coin (more than two thousand times the price at which he bought it), he sold 2,000 of his coins and when the price appreciated to $800 a few days later, he sold another 2,000 coins. While the first sale gave him $700,000, the second raked in $1,600,000 (a total of $2.3 million altogether). Smith then quit his job and decided to embark on a round-the-world trip the following week. He has now traveled to several countries, courtesy of the money he made from Bitcoin. He has so far sold about $25 milion worth of Bitcoin and has 1,000 coins left in his wallet, which he hopes to sell in the future.

Jay Smith’s story

Another Bitcoin trader to consider is a 29-year-old Briton, Jay Smith, the number 1 cryptocurrency trader at online brokerageeToro. This high school dropout is teaching over 9,000 retail investors how to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. He has made so much money that he has just ordered a Tesla, even though he does not know how to drive a car.

Erik Finman had a bet with his parents that he would not be forced to attend college if he should become a millionaire by the time he turned 18. He started investing in Bitcoin when the price per coin was $12; now he has 403 Bitcoins worth over $1 million. His parents won’t have to force him to go to college because he is now a millionaire at the age of 18.

Kristoffer Koch

The Guardian newspaper also talks about a Norwegian man, Kristoffer Koch, who invested 150 kroner ($26.60) in 5,000 Bitcoins in 2009 and forgot about it. But in April 2013, he remembered his investment when the price of Bitcoin began to rise astronomically. He eventually realized he had his 5,000 coins intact and as at then, they were already worth about NOK5m ($886,000), after just 4 years.

You are still not satisfied with the evidence I have provided so far? No worries! You can check out this publication on Gazette Review, on the “Top 10 Richest Bitcoin Millionaires”.

Bitcoin is not a hoax. It is true that it has made a lot of people millionaires, especially those who saw the opportunity earlier and cashed in. It’s not too late for you to become one of them. In the course of this post, you will find out how you could become one of the cryptocurrency millionaires. So, just hold on and make sure you read the post till the end.

Phases in Bitcoin’s growth

Bitcoin did not get to where it is today, overnight. A look into the digital currency’s history reveals the following milestones.

According to legend, Satoshi Nakamoto started to work on the Bitcoin concept in 2007. While record shows that he was living in Japan, it is speculated that Nakamoto may not, after all, be a single individual but a collective pseudonym for more than one person. On 15 August 2008, Neal Kin, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry filed an application for an encryption patent application.

The three individuals denied having a connection to Satoshi Nakamoto, the man who’s alleged to have founded the Bitcoin concept. On 18 August 2008, Bitcoin.org was officially born! The domain was registered at anonymousspeech.com, a site that gives the opportunity to users to register a domain anonymously and currently accepts Bitcoins.

The Nakamoto Whitepaper

On 31 October 2008, the Bitcoin white paper was published. Nakamoto published a design paper through a metzdowd.com cryptography mailing list that vividly described the Bitcoin currency concept and how it solves the problem of double spending so as to stop people from duplicating it.

On 9 November 2008, The Bitcoin Project was registered on SourceForge.net, a community collaboration website that is centered on open source software development and distribution.

First Bitcoin

On 3 January 2009, the Genesis Block was mined. Block 0, the genesis block, was created at 18:15:05 GMT. On 5 October 2009, an exchange rate was established. New Liberty Standard published a Bitcoin exchange rate that pegged the value of a Bitcoin at 1,309.03 BTC= US$1. This was calculated by using an equation that included the cost of electricity in running a computer that generated Bitcoins.

From then, people began to attach some value to Bitcoin. On 12 October 2009, the #bitcoin-dev channel was registered on freenode IRC, a network for discussing free and open source development communities. On 16 December 2009, the Bitcoin version 0.2 was officially released and on 6 February 2010, a currency exchange was born. The world saw the first Bitcoin Market established by dwdollar as a Bitcoin currency exchange. On 18 February 2010, encryption patent was published.

10 000 Bitcoin Pizza

There was a publication of the encryption patent application that was filed on 15 August 2008 by Neal Kin, Charles Bry and Vladimir Oksman.

On 22 May 2010, a total amount of 10,000 BTC was spent on pizza – the first, real-world transaction that involved the use of Bitcoins. A programmer from Jacksonville, Florida, Laszlo Hanyecz, proposed to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for a pizza on the Bitcoin Forum. The exchange rate at the time was put at about US$25.

On 7 July 2010, version 0.3 was released.

On 11 July 2010, Slashdot drives a surge in Bitcoin users. The mention of Bitcoin v0.3 on slashdot brought in a huge number of new users to Bitcoin.

On 12 July 2010, Bitcoin’s value increased tenfold.

Over a five-day period commencing on July 12, there was a surge in the exchange value of Bitcoin as the coin price increased ten times from US$0.008/BTC to US$0.080/BTC.

On 15 August 2010, a vulnerability in the Bitcoin system that led to Bitcoins being improperly verified was discovered and taken advantage of, ending in the generation of 184 billion Bitcoins.

On 14 September 2010, jgarzik made an offer, in the name of the Bitcoin Store, to puddinpop to open source their Windows-based CUDA client.

The offer was made in 10,000 BTC which, at the time, was estimated to cost between US$600 and US$650.

On 18 September 2010, CUDA becomes open-source. Puddinpop, under the MIT license, released the source of their Windows-based CUDA client, open sourced by the Bitcoin Store.

That same day, Slush’s Pool first block was mined. Bitcoin Pooled Mining (operated by slush), is a way in which several users work together to mine Bitcoins and then split the benefits among themselves.

On 6 November 2010, the Bitcoin market cap went beyond $1 million USD. This sum was calculated by multiplying the number of Bitcoins in circulation by the last trade on MtGox. The price on MtGox reached US$0.50/BTC.

On 27 January 2011, the largest Bitcoin trade to date occurred on #bitcoin-otc: Three Zimdollars (Zimbabwe notes that are worth one-hundred trillion dollars each) were traded for 12 BTC. On 28 January 2011, 25% of the total Bitcoins was generated. The generation of Block 105000, led to the generation of 5.25 million Bitcoins, which totalled more than 25% of the projected total of almost 21 million.

On 9 February 2011, the value of a Bitcoin became equal with US$1 dollar. Bitcoin reached US$1.00/BTC at MtGox, bringing it on par with the US dollar for the first time.

Since then, the Bitcoin has continued a steady climb to its current price of over $4,000 per coin. Bitcoin has since been adopted by several merchants as their means of payment. Several android apps have also been created to aid business transactions using Bitcoins. Bitcoin has also taken a further step with several offline wallets built by developers to help coin holders secure their investments.

The fundamentals of Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, which is created and held electronically but is not printed like fiat currency and is not under the control of any central regulatory authority or bank.

Why Bitcoin is unique

Bitcoin is accepted as a means of payment for goods and services. It is mined by making use of computing power in a distributed network. It does not require middlemen for Bitcoin transaction to take place; all you need is an internet access and a Bitcoin address. Your Bitcoin address serves the same purpose as a bank account but unlike a traditional bank account, it is directly under your control. Bitcoin does not respect geopolitical boundaries; therefore, it can be sent to anyone in any part of the world and it would be received even if the receiver was offline. However, the receiver needs to be connected to the internet to be able to collect the digital currency.

Bitcoin value

As mentioned earlier, the Bitcoin value is currently at $6,500 per coin and is likely to rise further. How do I know this? When the digital currency was created in June 2009, it was valued at 0.0001 USD. Since then, the value has been on a steady rise as more and more people, merchants and nations recognize the cryptocurrency as a means of transacting business. Basically, the value of Bitcoin is derived from the fact that people want them. Just like any other currency, Bitcoin respects the basic laws of demand and supply.

What makes Bitcoin invaluable?

Bitcoin has brought a great revolution into the financial world and has changed the way things are done. Bitcoin is an electronic form of currency or simply put, it can best be described as a “digital dollar”. Unlike fiat currency, Bitcoin does not require third parties to confirm or verify transactions.

Its transactions are recorded in a public ledger known as the “Bitcoin blockchain” and the record remains permanent for public view and can neither be edited nor deleted. Although your Bitcoin wallet ID is disclosed, your name remains anonymous. Your proof of transaction is simply the transaction records. Besides, with the way Bitcoin is programmed, it is unlikely for double spending to occur.

Bitcoin can be spent just like other fiat currencies. While some people keep them for future investments, others prefer using them in making international money transfers. The most important thing is that your portfolio is completely under your control; there is no interference from the government. Its use across borders and its flawless digital transfers as well as its censorship resistance make it invaluable.

How many people use Bitcoin?

A survey recently carried out by the University of Cambridge revealed the number of active wallets is estimated to be between 5.8 million and 11.5 million in 2017, up from between 0.6 million and 2.6 million in 2013. In addition, the survey also estimated that the total number of wallets has increased more than four times to almost 35 million in 2016, from 8.2 million in 2013.

However, it is impossible to give the exact figure of users because of the possibility of some holders owning several wallets and the fact that some bot accounts may also be in existence. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: the number of Bitcoin transactions is on a steady increase.

How do I get a Bitcoin address?

Sending or receiving Bitcoins is only made possible if you have a Bitcoin address. You can get a Bitcoin address through an online wallet or by downloading the Bitcoin client. Some of the trusted online wallet providers include Coinbase, Xapo, Trezor, Blockchain, Ledger Nano, and Keepkey. The two most popular Bitcoin clients are Bitcoin-qt and Multibit.

Bitcoin QT is a desktop solution with privacy and security features. It is a stable system and it supports complete transparency. Its main downside is that it consumes a lot of memory and space on your computer. Multibit, on the other hand, is a lightweight version of the Bitcoin client and as such, does not consume as much space and memory.

ICOs: How they can make you a millionaire

Are you one of those endlessly scanning the internet for possible places to invest your money and make huge profits? Please, stop the search! There’s no need to keep bothering yourself because I have good news for you. I have found a place whereyou could invest and potentially become a millionaire within a short period.

ICOs?

Have you heard about ICOs? Don’t worry if you haven’t. ICOs simply stand for Initial Coins Offer. It is the latest craze in the crypto world and it is enriching a lot of investors. They are more viable and trusted than those too-good-to-be-real HYIPs (High Yield Investment Programs) that promise you heaven on earth and eventually disappear with your money.

Fraud ICOs?

It is true that just like the HYIPs, there are some ICOs that are marred with fraud. Yet the rate of fraud in ICOs is minimal when compared with HYIPs. The main thing here is finding the reputable in which to ICOs. If you do your due diligence, you will easily see the ones that will change your financial status forever. If you are really keen on making the best out of ICOs, be sure to read this post to the end.

What are ICOs?

A ICO is an unregulated way through which new cryptocurrency ventures raise funds. ICOs are also known as Initial Coin Offering or Initial Public Coin Offering (IPCO) and are used by startups to avoid other painstaking and regulated ways of raising capital, which are required by banks or venture capitalists.

How do ICOs Work?

In the early periods of ICO campaigns, the early backers of the project are given a particular percentage of the cryptocurrency in exchange for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies. A lot of the ICOs now accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, or USD for payment for their coins.

You still do not understand it? Okay, don’t worry. I will make it simpler for you.

New Way of Raising Funds

When a cryptocurrency startup firm is considering raising some money through an ICO, it has to generate a plan on a whitepaper. This will usually contain things like the purpose of the project, the needs it intends to take care of upon completion, the amount of money that is required, the length of time the campaign will run for, and the number of tokens reserved for the pioneers of the project.

While the offer lasts, supporters of the initiative and other enthusiasts are given access to purchasing the distributed cryptocoins (Tokens) with virtual currency or fiat. The tokens you purchase are just like the shares you buy in a company with an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The ICO is considered unsuccessful if the money raised is insufficient to meet the minimum funds required. In that case, the money is refunded to the backers. But if the necessary funds are successfully raised within the specified period, it is used in initiating a new scheme or in completing a current project.

What is the income potential in ICOs?

ICOs have truly made a lot of people stinking rich and you could be next. Everyday several new ICOs are launched.

But what is in it for me? You ask! Don’t worry. You will understand after reading the following: Investors who invest early enough in cryptocoins do so with the hope that the project becomes successful after it is launched thereby resulting in a higher value for the cryptocoin.

Case Bitcoin

A good example of what you stand to earn with an ICO is the case of Bitcoin. When Bitcoin was launched in 2009, it was sold at about $0.008/BTC but now it has risen to over $5,000/BTC, which is over 1 million % appreciation in just about 9 years. Do you know of any other investments in the world that can yield that kind of profit? That’s one good reason why investing in ICOs has the potential to make you a millionaire in a short period of time.

Recently, a number of startups have resorted to raising funds for their projects through ICOs. While many of these ICOs now flood the internet, and have been subject to abuses, a lot of them are still reliable and are yielding several thousand percentage profits for those who take the bold step to invest in them.

How is an ICO able to make you rich within a short time? The process is quite simple. Take for instance, a company that sells a token at $0.00005/token in an ICO and raises a few million dollars in the process.

The cryptocoins are then listed on exchanges after the successful launch. If it becomes popular, the value begins to rise fast. It can even rise from that $0.00005 to as much as $2 in short period of time. What would that translate to? If you buy $100 worth, it would simply give you 2 million coins and by the time the price rises to $2 per coin in a year or two, you will simply have 2 million coins x $2 and that gives you $4 million.

Case Ethereum

Let’s look at Ethereum as an example. It is the second most popular cryptocoin, after Bitcoin. In 2014, when Ethereum launched its project, it sold its coin Ethers in Bitcoins or $0.40 when it was raising the sum of $18 million via an ICO.

The project went live in 2015 but by 2016, the value of an Ether skyrocketed to $14 per coin. If you spent $100 then, it would have given you 250 Ethers and by the end of 2 years (in 2016), that would have been worth $3,500.

Currently, Ethereum is worth over $300/Ether and so if you had bought 250 Ethers in its ICO in 2014, the value would be over $75,000 by now.

Recommended Reading

Trading Cryptocurrency CFDs is a leveraged product and therefore risky. Please ensure you understand the risks involved as you could lose all your account funds.

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